You might recall that back in the summer of 2024, we visited Vermont and were able to go on our very first Ben and Jerry's Factory Tour! At the end, when we came to the tasting room, they joked and said the flavor we'd be trying was going to be Broccoli Cheddar Chunk. Then they were kidding, that's an April Fools Day flavor. They always do a weird flavor for April 1st. I joked with Theresa that I'd like to come back here for it... Except I wasn't really joking. I really do want to come back for their April Fools Day ice cream flavor!
Luckily Maple Sugar Season is around the same time as April Fools Day, so we were able to visit our friends in Vermont with the Maple Farm and see how real maple syrup is made, plus combine it with this trip to Ben and Jerry's to try some weird ice cream! Perfect!
We'd booked the hotels, rental cars, and plane tickets months in advance to be here today.
Unfortunately the factory tour tickets only release 2 weeks in advance. And so, at midnight 2 weeks ago, I was on my phone making sure we had tickets to the Factory Tour on April 1st. I wasn't going to miss out. Along with the tickets, there was a note field where you could write comments. I told them we were all excited to try their April Fools flavor this year.
And so when I got the following message a few days later, I was a bit disappointed. That would be a bummer if we planned all this and they skipped out on doing a flavor this year. Sigh... well, the tickets and everything are already booked, so I guess we're still going anyway.
Looking through the lobby at the merch you can buy.
Real Vermont Maple Syrup. I wonder if there's any flavors that include it here.
At 11am, our tour guide Makayla rang the cow bell and invited us all to join her.
First up is the Moovie Theater that tells the story of Ben and Jerry.
Last time this was a full tour and we had to stand in the back. Today, there's just 13 guests total, so plenty of room for everyone to sit.
Makayla told us that even if we've been on the tour before, this was a new movie, released only a week ago.
Down the stairs we go to the tasting room. I'm crossing my fingers for good news.
And, sadly, our hopes were dashed here. There is no special April Fools flavor this year.
Welcome to the Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour!
I loved the handle on the door, how it's an ice cream scoop.
The next part of the tour was on the second floor looking down at the factory production below. No photos or videos are allowed here.
You might remember last time that they were just cleaning the factory between batches and we didn't actually get to see them making ice cream.
Today though, the pints were flowing and we could see the workers busily doing all the steps. Our guide asked if anyone could tell which flavor they were making today and Ian was the first to raise his hand and got it right on the first try. Milk and Cookies! Good eyes buddy!
We could see them pouring the chunky mixins that Ben and Jerry's is famous for into the hoppers. See the path the pints were taking as they got filled, and watch them get lidded and sent off to the freezer.
There's just 2 Ben and Jerry's plants here in Vermont that supply every single pint of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream to the entire US, some Asian countries, and even down into the Caribbean. If you're eating Ben and Jerry's in California, it got shipped there all the way from Vermont! There's a third plant overseas in the Netherlands that provides ice cream for all of Europe!
I'm not sure why Ian said we're from California when they went around the room asking where people were from. We've been Florida residents for years now. Perhaps in his heart he's still a California boy.
Makayla was a pretty good scooper for the samples though.
Instead, we're having the Ben and Jerry's Scoop Shop exclusive Salted Caramel Blondie flavor.
Makayla recalled past April Fools flavors like the Broccoli Cheddar Chunk, Everything Bagel, Whiskey Pickle, Loaded Baked Potato, and Sweet Corn ice cream. Any of those would have been fun options.
Boo. I wanted to try something else today.
Thanks for the tour Makayla. Not your fault, but I'm leaving a little disappointed today.
Leaving the Ben and Jerry's Factory, it's time to head to the airport.
She reiterated that their flavor guru left a few months ago (months? really?) and they haven't had anyone to come up with new April Fools ideas. She also mentioned that the company as a whole is going through some changes, without expounding any further, and that they were figuring out their way forward.
The shuttered flavor experimentation room... 
The quality control room, where the workers here eat at least a pint a day. When they take this position, they're signed up automatically for a gym membership and do blood screenings to make sure they stay healthy.
Did they take my picture when I came in? Is that 41% Fat referring to me? How Rude! 
I had ideas of trying to find one more special maple product, Maple Milk, from the Contoocook Creamery. When we visited Bohanan Farms and the Contoocook Creamery before, they mentioned it was seasonal. Well we're in maple season now, but it's a little too far away to drive to directly. Unfortunately all the farm stores they partner with that were closer to our route didn't carry the maple milk. We called and check. Doh!
Going back into New Hampshire and then into Connecticut. It's a lot warmer than it was when we arrived a few days ago.
Turning in the rental car was quick and easy and we walked directly from the rental car garage to the terminal at Bradley International Airport.
It was a tasty meal of Chipotle as we waited for our plane to arrive.
Great seats up front and it's not even close to a full flight!
Look at all those empties! We should make great time down to Florida!
We'd learned our lesson from a previous trip where our flight got in past midnight, our car needed a jump start, and we didn't get home until 2am. Today we're arriving at 10pm and should still get a decent night sleep before school tomorrow.
The long term parking shuttle was still quick to pick us up, and thankfully this time the car didn't have a dead battery. It was still 3:30am by the time we got home though. So much for an early night. Despite all that, the kids still wanted to go in to school the next day! We settled on missing the first two classes so they could get at least a few more hours of sleep.
As we got closer to Orlando though, the captain came on and told us that there was weather over Orlando. A storm cell had settled over the airport and wasn't moving. There was lightning all around and the tower told all incoming planes to go into a holding pattern. And so, we started doing circles in the air, waiting for the airport to open back up.
After 45 minutes or so of holding, the captain let us know that Orlando still wasn't open and the plane was starting to eat into its fuel reserves. We needed to divert to an alternate airport, refuel, then wait for Orlando to open back up.
Welcome to Tampa!
This isn't where I parked my car.
We sat on taxiway for 45 minutes until a gate finally opened up for us to pull into and refuel. Passengers were given the option to get off and stretch their legs or even disembark. A couple pilots catching a hop decided to get a shuttle to Orlando instead of waiting for the plane to go there. I wonder who made it there faster.
The temperature differences in the outside air of Tampa and the air inside the airplane made for some crazy clouds coming through the ventilation inside the plane. Theresa thought it was like something out of Mission Impossible where the bad guys pump something into the plane and put everyone to sleep.
Another wait while we fueled up, then pushed back and flew into Orlando. And there, again we sat on the taxiway while we waited for a gate to open up. Checking the time... 1:50am. Yikes! It's late!
Well, it was an interesting an memorable trip to Vermont! I'm glad we got to see our friends the Coutures and see maple syrup being made. I was bummed that the Ben and Jerry's Factory Tour didn't work out like I hoped. Maybe we'll have to try to make our own interesting flavors one of these days.
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